


When you breathe, my own lungs fill with air

by A_Tomb_With_A_View



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Asexual Bobby Wilson, Asexual Luke Patterson, F/F, Found Family, Luke loves his family so much, M/M, Multi, Platonic Pining, Reggie Peters Has Fibromyalgia (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie has fibromyalgia, Some pining, They work in a chemist and they pine, This is the softest goddamn thing I’ve ever written, Trevor and Bobby are different people, Tw: implied mention of past addiction, im not even mad, romantic pining, terrifies me, thehre English because the American medical system
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29445933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Tomb_With_A_View/pseuds/A_Tomb_With_A_View
Summary: When Luke had decided to start pulling Saturday shifts at the chemists in town, he had not been expecting Bobby Wilson.He’d been expecting long days of trying to ignore how far away five pm looked, and awkward conversations with coworkers forty years older than him, and interacting with customers who couldn’t remember if the neighbour they were picking a prescription up was actually called Jane, or if her name was Louisa Jane. He’d not been expecting Bobby and his stupid suspenders beneath his tunic, and the scathing comments he made under his breathe as people left the shop, and the calm, gentle way he guided Luke through all the steps, laughing at his mistakes in a way that never made Luke feel stupid.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer/Reggie Peters/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Flynn & Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters & Willie, Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Luke Patterson, Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Ray Molina/Rose Molina (mentioned), Flynn/Julie Molina
Comments: 8
Kudos: 84





	When you breathe, my own lungs fill with air

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aesthetically_Angsty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aesthetically_Angsty/gifts).



> Hey kids!  
> This is just,,, me nerding out about meds, me projecting my hatred for customers who don’t tell you their actual name, me writing LukeBobby bc @aesthetically_angsty exists and therefore I have to, and me writing so much found family vibes because I’m so so gay  
> Content warning: there is a joke about od-ing on morphine and a mention of implied past addiction issues. 
> 
> Enjoy!

When Luke had decided to start pulling Saturday shifts at the chemists in town, he had  _ not _ been expecting Bobby Wilson. 

He’d been expecting long days of trying to ignore how far away five pm looked, and awkward conversations with coworkers forty years older than him, and interacting with customers who couldn’t remember if the neighbour they were picking a prescription up was actually called Jane, or if her name was Louisa Jane. He’d not been expecting Bobby and his stupid suspenders beneath his tunic, and the scathing comments he made under his breathe as people left the shop, and the calm, gentle way he guided Luke through all the steps, laughing at his mistakes in a way that never made Luke feel stupid. 

Alex said he was smitten, but Alex was a bitch, so Luke was currently ignoring the smug smiles Alex flashed him every time he dropped by for his anxiety medication.

Reggie also said Luke was smitten, but Reggie had had his eyes on both Alex  _ and  _ Alex’s partner, Willie, for  _ ages _ , and hadn’t made a move even though they clearly liked him back and had attempted subtly to include him, so Luke was ignoring  _ him  _ as well. 

Julie had come in to pick up some antibiotics three weeks ago, and had mocked him for a full half hour in their group chat, and Luke really did plan on listening to her, because she and Flynn were the most successful and adorable couple literally on the face of the earth, but she’d set him up on a blind date with a girl from his Intro to Composition course who’d insulted his chord combinations - sure, she’d been right, but she didn’t have to be so mean about it - so Luke had forbidden her from giving him romantic advice. 

Unfortunately that left him with Willie, Nick and Carrie to give advice. 

None of them were good options.

Anything Luke said to Willie would inevitably get back to Alex and Reggie, not because Willie would tell them - Willie would take secrets to the grave - but because Alex could tell just about anything by looking at Willie and if Alex knew, Reggie knew, and although Willie was one of their more sensible friends, they still didn’t have the wherewithal to see that Alex was too anxious for bold strokes and Reggie and Alex’s friendship was far too touchy-feely for subtle hints to be noticed, so he wasn’t exactly Luke’s first choice of talking to about how fucking pretty Bobby was without being told about how madly in love he supposedly was. 

Nick had an entire folder of memes and reaction photos on his phone titled “When Allos Ask Me For Love Advice” that he could and would deliver with the kind of scathing nonchalance that would haunt Luke for years to come, so he was kind of out of the question. 

Then there was Carrie, but she was Bobby’s twin sister, so she was a pretty self explanatory no-no. 

Luke hadn’t actually known about that last one until two weeks ago, when Bobby had complimented Julie and the Phantoms’ demo, which, as far as Luke was aware, was only owned by five people that weren’t members of the band. It had been a pretty awkward confrontation, considering Bobby had been wearing a green Henley that made his arms look  _ incredible _ , and also considering that Luke had mildly panicked and asked how the fuck he had access to the CD.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t madly in love with Bobby, because after seeing the video Carrie had sent to the groupchat of Bobby singing karaoke when the pair had gotten drunk while Trevor was out Luke was definitely at least half way there, it was more that he didn’t want to talk about it to all his friends with their relationships and their idiocy, and if Alex or Reggie or Willie tried to give him relationship advice while they danced around the clusterfuck that was the car-crash-in-slow-mo of their inevitable relationship, he was probably going to write an entire spite album. 

——

“So, to scan out a prescription when I forgot to actually scan it, I press recall, then the date it was dispensed, then press patient and the first letter of their surname, then once I’ve found their name… I…. central and… S?” Luke guessed, tapping each of the buttons as he said it, cursing under his breath when the final step disappeared from his mind. 

Bobby ‘tsch’ed softly. “So close, Lukey. It’s central C.” 

“Shit. I was close, right?” Luke whined, pressing ctrl and C.

“You’re fine, C and S make the same sound half the time,” Bobby said. “Besides, it took me and Jen, like, a year to learn how to recall prescriptions. You’ve been here for three months, you’re totally fine.” 

“I still don’t know how it took you so long,” Luke repeated for quite possibly the fiftieth time. “It’s just, like, three buttons.”

“No need to be rude,” Bobby chided, tapping Luke’s back so he tucked in to let Bobby pass. “Just because you have a memory and we don’t doesn’t give you a pass to be a little bitch.”

Luke stuck his tongue out, scribbling the date onto the back of the script. “It’s not my fault if you can’t remember to do four things one after the other. How do you even play guitar if you can’t multitask?” 

Bobby shrugged, chewing on the end of his pen as he flipped through the invoices. “My dad is big into music, me and Care have been playing instruments since before we could read.” 

Luke huffed a laugh, trying not to stare at Bobby’s mouth. “Your dad is  _ Trevor Wilson,  _ I don’t think “big into music” covers it, dude.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatev- Hi, there, how can I help?” Bobby cut himself up as someone walked in, half smile replaced by something pleasant and fake. 

Luke looked back down to the script in front of him, sighing when he realised he’d written 18/3/13 instead of 13/2/18. 

Bobby nudged his side. “Can you pass me the ibuprofen? Four hundred milligrams, ninety six box, please.”

Luke blinked up at him for a moment, trying to remember where they were. 

“Next to your elbow, kid.”

“I’m two months older than you,” Luke muttered, handing him the box dutifully.

“And that’ll be… £9, please,” Bobby said instead of answering, shooting Luke a sideways look when he was handed five pound coins and a pile of fifty, twenty and ten pence coins. 

Luke smiled to himself, ducking down behind the counter to find the folder for invoices. When he stood up the customer was gone, and Bobby was glaring at the stack of coins as he sorted them into the boxes. “Will you be tall for me, please?” 

Bobby snorted and held his hand out, leaning up on tip toes to pop them in the tray on top of the P medicines shelf. “All sorted?” 

Luke dragged his eyes up from the stretch of skin that had briefly been revealed. “Is all what sorted?” 

“Are you done with the scripts?” Bobby asked, the corner of his lips twitching up with a smile. “Because if you could have a go with Shreggbert for a bit, it would be much appreciated. The bastards who work weekdays never do any, and I think the shredding basket is gonna break.” 

“Oh, right, yeah, of course.” Luke nodded. “I mean, I love shreggbert. He’s a trusty li’l dude. We vibe really hard.” 

“I’m sure.” Bobby nodded seriously, emptying the mass of clips and elastic bands from his pockets into the pot. “He’s a trusty guy. He’ll treat you right.”

“Until he overheats after ten minutes of shredding and stops working for three hours,” Luke reminded him, grabbing the shredding basket from the dispensary. “Or until I miss a label and he stops working for three hours.” 

Bobby raised both eyebrows in acknowledgment. “When that happens, you can always see how Henry’ll treat you.”

Luke squinted at him, stacking their mugs on top of the basket. “Are you trying to tell me you want me to Hoover as well?”

“I’ll mop and sweep,” Bobby promised, back straightening when another customer walked in. He looked up, body still turned towards Luke. “And I’ll do the brass.” 

“... fine.” 

——

“So… how much of Bobby’s stomach did you see today?” Alex asked mildly when Luke got home, Reggie asleep on top of him and Willie pressed against his other side, clearly fighting a smile.

Luke felt his cheeks burn but tried to ignore it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Let’s not even  _ try  _ to pretend that JATP telepathy isn’t a thing, we both know it is. I know you saw some, how much, and did you pass out?” 

Willie made a vaguely concerning squeaking sound and buried his face in the crook of Alex’s neck, shoulders shaking. 

Luke sighed and laid across the armchair, legs kicked over one side. “You know when Wills laughs in his crop top and like lifts his arms up a bit and you and Reg, like, die?” 

A faint blush crawled up Alex’s cheeks, and he nodded sharply to Reggie in a silent  _ shut the fuck up.  _ “Yeah?” He said anyways, combing his fingers through Willie’s hair. “That much? Damn.”

Luke nodded pathetically. “And, like, I feel bad, and I don’t wanna be a creep or anything, and it’s not like it’s sexual or anything, fuck that noise, but he’s just so fucking pretty, Al.” 

“Oh, you’ve finally cracked, thank God,” Willie remarked, voice tight with suppressed laughter. “We thought the moping about and not telling us anything was weird.” 

Luke stuck his tongue out. “Shush, you, you two don’t get to judge me on this, and that’s the ground rule for me talking about this.” 

“I absolutely get to judge you on this,” Alex argued. “I have a boyfriend, I’m clearly very successful in the romantic department.”

“I’m sorry,  _ how  _ much of you snagging, like,  _ the  _ fittest person in the dance programme was to do with your skills and how much of it was just Willie taking pity on you?” Luke asked, then glanced to Reggie. “And neither of you have figured out that Reg is a big romantic gestures type of guy, even though you’ve been making moves for, like, six months. So nothing from either of you, please and thank you. I’m gonna talk about the incredibly attractive and actually  _ ace _ guitarist I work with and possibly write a song that Julie will roll her eyes at at least four times, and you two are just going to let me.” 

Alex and Willie both looked at him with twin expressions of dawning realisation. 

Alex slapped his forehead. “Oh my god. Reg is a gestures guy. How did I not know this? I did know this. I’m so fucking stupid.” 

“You are,” Luke agreed. 

“ _ We’re  _ so stupid,” Willie said, kissing Alex’s shoulder lightly. “We can-”

“Woah, woah,” Luke interrupted, holding both hands up. “You’re very cute, and I’m very happy for the three of you, but if you would please remember that this fun little conversation is about  _ me  _ and the fit guy I work with?” 

“God, you’re such an attention whore,” Alex joked, expression soft enough that even Luke, with his tone blindness, could tell it was fond. “Go on, then. What happened?” 

Luke grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around himself. “Okay, so firstly, he was wearing green, and I don’t know, guys, he looked so good in green. Secondly, he called me kid, and he’s older than me, so it was annoying, but-”

“You’re gay and have parental issues, and you want to be loved by someone you look up to,” Willie said, sounding annoyingly sympathetic. “It’s okay. We know this and we love you.” 

Alex choked on his drink. “Oh my god, that’s like, our entire friendship group.” 

“Except Julie and Carrie,” Willie agreed. “Their dads are awesome.” 

Luke nodded. “I'd love to argue but… yeah. But let’s be real, Carrie definitely has issues because of her mum.”

Alex snorted and kissed Willie’s forehead gently. “Oh, shit, true. Anyways, what else happened with Bobby?”

“Right, right, right.” Luke nodded. “Okay, so he, like, put some stuff in the box on top of the P meds, and he was on tiptoes, and his shirt rode up, which was very much appreciated, and he told off a customer for yelling at me, which made my chest do the warm fuzzy thing, and then these customers just, like, struck up a conversation whilst we were sorting them out and we made fun of them together for, like, an hour.”

“Aww.” Willie pressed his cheek against Alex’s arm. “That’s cute.” 

Alex nodded. “It is. Look at you, being all cute and relationship-y after  _ forever  _ of just writing sappy songs while staring at cute people you’ll never talk to on the bus.” 

“Firstly, it’s very rude to flirt with people you don’t know on the bus, I have big muscles, what if they think I’m gonna hurt them?” Luke protested, standing up so he could snuggle into Willie’s side, sighing happily when Willie wrapped an arm around him. “Secondly, my songs are not  _ sappy,  _ they’re fun and people like them, and we have a record deal because of those songs, so shut your fuck.” 

Alex nodded his head. “That’s true. Didn’t you say he said he liked our songs?” 

“Oh my god, yes, he likes our _ songs.  _ My songs!” Luke rested his chin on Willie’s shoulder. “He likes my  _ music.  _ That’s like… remember when Flynn wrote a rap for the song Julie wrote her and Julie was essentially catatonic for a whole hour?” 

“It was so funny,” Alex said. “Our sweet little Jules, laying on the floor and staring at the ceiling and rambling about Flynn’s rap.” 

“It was,” Luke agreed. “Anyway, my insides feel like that.”

Willie ‘aw’ed quietly and kissed his temple. “”It makes me insides feel like Julie going catatonic over her partner”, Luke Patterson, the great lyricist, everybody.” 

“You’re such a wanker,” Luke told them, tugging on the blanket so it was only covering him. “So mean to me.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “We’re trying to get you used to the only kind of affection the Wilson twins know how to process, Lukey.” 

“If I wanted to be insulted I would go to Carrie’s,” Luke reminded him. “I come here for my daily dose of affection and attention.”

“I’ve been insulting you way longer than you’ve known Carrie and Bobby. Trinity primary school gang remember? And you come here because you  _ live  _ here.” Alex shifted until he could reach around Willie to ruffle Luke’s hair. 

“And because I want affection and attention,” Luke muttered, sticking his bottom lip out. “Regbert will give me affection and attention.” 

“Roger is asleep,” Alex said firmly. “No waking him up, he had a bad night last night.”

Luke softened immediately. “Ah, shit. Flare or RLS?” 

“Bit of both.” Alex waved his hand back and forth. “One affects the other, you know how it is. Started with the hem of his t-shirt digging in too much, so he kept shifting to find a better position, ended up staying up all night.” 

Luke ‘tsch’ed softly. “What did the receptionist say about getting an appointment with the doc?” 

Willie scrubbed a hand over their face. “Two weeks, minimum. Anything over the counter you can recommend?” 

“Uh…” Luke chewed his lip. “I can text Bobby? We have a bunch of stuff, but what with having taken the cocodamol and Kalms and stuff before, the list gets shortened quite quickly. I asked my boss last week, and she said either hypnotics or antihistamines might be recommended as prescription drugs, because over-the-counter stuff isn’t good long term, but me and Bobby did some research, and they won’t give him hypnotics, almost certainly.” 

“Why not?” Alex asked, eyebrows drawing together. “If they’re gonna help, then why the fuck not?” 

Luke shrugged. “Bobby said that hypnotics are supposed to be short cycle. Five to ten days on something like diazepam or eszopiclone. The point is to get your body used to sleeping cycles again, but it’s not gonna fix any of the root issues. If they put him on a hypnotic now, he’ll still be on them at seventy, and he’ll never get a night’s sleep like the first night.” 

Alex swore under his breath. “They can’t give him something addictive, not after-”

“Exactly,” Luke agreed. “So, antidepressants, like what he’s on, antihistamines, melatonin. That kind of thing. Antihistamines are drowsying, though, so Reg might hate those.” 

“So… his options are just something else like what he’s on?” Willie asked after a moment. “He got a tolerance after a year and a half, surely they don’t have enough antidepressants to cycle through for his whole life?” 

“I don’t know, man.” Luke kissed Willie’s shoulder apologetically. “I’ll text Bobby, okay?” 

“You just want an excuse to talk to him,” Alex teased, even though his expression was grateful. “Well, duh.” Luke rolled his eyes. “My only other conversation starter is “hey, Care sent us a video of you singing and dancing to Womaniser last week when you were drunk and I’ve choked on five different meals because I rewatched it that many times, wanna duet with me?” How well do you think that would go?” 

Alex stared at him for a solid thirty seconds, then buried his face in his hands. “Oh my god,” he mumbled, voice distorted. “My best friend is an idiot. I’m ashamed to know you.” 

“That’s fair.” Luke nodded. “Yup. Definitely fair.”

——

“Bobman, will you be tall for me, pretty please?” Luke widened his eyes and held out a stack of scripts, hoping Alex and Julie’s bitching and moaning about the effectiveness of his puppy dog face.

“Jesus Christ, put those away,” Bobby muttered, taking the scripts and popping them in the box. “It’s nine forty five am and I’ve only had two cups of tea, I cannot deal with you being this cute right now.” 

Luke felt his jaw drop a little, heat inching up his face. “I’m. Uh. What?” 

“Oh, no,” Bobby whispered, expression crumbling into dread practically in slo-mo. “Oh nooo.” 

“You think I’m cute?” Luke asked, grinning, once he’d finally gotten his thoughts together. 

“No. I mean. Uh. Yes? But, like, this is work, so currently no, but yes, I do?” Bobby stumbled over his words, turning a very flattering shade of pink. “Oh my god, I’m gonna go do the returns and chug the first bottle of morphine sulphate I find.” 

“That’s so valid,” Luke said, patting Bobby’s arm. “But if you’re dead, you can’t take me to Bettys for tea, so.”

Bobby side-eyed him as a delivery guy came in. “Maybe just half a bottle, then?” He moved away to pass the CDs bag to the pharmacist. “It’s B Wilson, thanks, Les.” 

“So… Bettys?” Luke asked, sitting down once the delivery guy had gotten the signature he needed. “Can you pass us the scissors?” 

Bobby nodded slowly, tossing the scissors precariously close to Luke’s face. “Shit, sorry. Uh.. I can do Bettys. The one in York?” 

Luke cut the zip ties on the boxes and eased the lid off the top one. “Ah, fuck, there’s gotta be a hundred boxes of paracetamol in here, Jesus. And how about Harrogate? We could get a film at Everyman- God, have you had their sweet potato fries?” 

Bobby groaned. “I would genuinely kill for their sweet potato fries.”

“Me too,” Luke agreed, lifting boxes out until he found the invoice. “So, we could go see Game Night? Alex says it’s really good.”

“A film that has the approval of Alex Mercer, sweet potato fries, Bettys for lunch,  _ and _ a cute guy?” Bobby grinned at Luke, tossing a pen at him when he made grabby hands. “Sounds pretty damn good to me.” 

The pharmacist, Harry, peaked his head through the dispensary door. “You guys weren’t already together?” 

Luke felt himself go red. “Uh… no?” 

“Huh.” Harry looked to Bobby, then back to Luke. “No kissing during work hours, I don’t get paid enough to deal with that on top of the wankers that come in here demanding their prescriptions five minutes after putting it in at the doctors, understood?” 

Bobby shot him a lazy two fingered salute. “Yes, boss. The McWells again?”

“Isn’t it bloody always?” 

——

“Jules, sunshine, why are Wriggly and Lexibald snogging on my couch?” Luke asked, hugging Julie hello once he’d gotten home from his third date with Bobby. “In my good Catholic flat?”

“Hi, Luke, nice to see you too, Luke, how was your date, Luke? I’m good, thank you, Luke,” Julie said, hugging him back. 

“Hi, Jules, it’s good to see you, my date was excellent and Bobby bought me flowers which I blue screened and have written two thirds of a song over, how are you?” He rattled off as he grabbed a mug from the cupboard and turned the kettle on. “Tea?” 

Julie pinched his cheeks. “Aw, that’s cute, we can work on the song later, and you have to show me the flowers. I’d love a cuppa, cheers.”

He grabbed another cup. “Decaf?” 

“Like fuck,” she scoffed. “I’ve got a night shift.” 

Luke pulled a face, popping teabags in both mugs, then sat on the kitchen table. “So, mind telling me why ‘Lex and Reg are snogging on my couch?” 

Julie shrugged and leaned against him, resting her forehead on his arm. “Willie said something about romantic gestures? They’ve popped out because you’re out of lemon juice and Care said she’s coming over in, like, ten minutes - with Bobby - and wants pancakes.”

“Lunatics.” Luke kissed her hair. “Where’s my favourite human?”

Julie snorted. “Flynn’s working a couple extra hours so she can take next Thursday off for our anniversary.” 

“So Flynn is sacrificing spending time with me to spend time with you?” He pulled a face. “How dare?” 

“They’re  _ my  _ partner,” Julie protested, cuffing him round the head playfully. “I’m allowed to do that. Imagine if I told you off for asking Bobby to spend the day with you instead of me?”

“He’s your step-brother,” Luke reminded her. “So, I’m pretty sure if I asked Bobstard to spend time with me when you two had plans, he’d cancel our plans, and I would be okay with that. I’d just hang out with Aunt Rose and she could teach me that guitar trick.” 

Julie sighed. “Okay, bad example. And you know he’s not  _ actually  _ my step brother, right? Triads can’t get married, so, ha.”

“ _ Triads can’t get married, so ha,”  _ Luke mocked fondly. “Before I knew he was your and Care’s Bobby, he told me about his two sisters and his little brother, so if you tell him you’re not actually siblings, he’d be crushed.” 

“I will cry right here, just you watch me,” she threatened, then looked up at him. “He really says that? Like we’re real siblings?” 

Luke nodded and kissed her forehead. “I mean, it’s not as if you weren’t raised like real siblings, even before Uncle Trev and Uncle Ray and Aunt Rose sorted their shit out.” 

Julie shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. But we didn’t start living together until we were, like, twelve. They’re all far too repressed to actually tell you how they feel. Even Trevdad has only referred to me and Carlos as his kids a couple times.”

Luke opened his mouth to respond as an arm looped around his waist and lips pressed against his temple. “Lukey, you’re not allowed to be Jules’ favourite brother when I’m her actual brother, okay?” 

Luke snorted and tipped his head back to rest on Bobby’s shoulders. “Heya Beebob. How was dinner with the ‘rents?” 

“Well, dad’s favourite daughter was missing, and Carlos talked our ear off for twenty minutes about dinosaurs, and I was trying my best to memorise it so I can regurgitate it to Reg,  _ but  _ mum made Yorkshire puddings, so an overall success.” Bobby held an arm out to Julie, who tucked herself into his side. 

“I missed Yorkshire puddings?” Julie complained. “Did she make extras?”

Bobby shrugged. “I’m sure they were intended to be extras, but they fit on my plate, so…”

Julie slapped his shoulder.“This is why nobody loves you.” 

“Hey, you have love and no Yorkshire puddings, I have Yorkshire puddings and no love. I think I’m winning. If you haven’t poured out the tea, will you do us one, love?” 

Luke slid off the table and grabbed another cup. “Shout through to the others and see if they want one? Except Al, please, he called me a bitch this morning because I stole his hoodie, he doesn’t deserve tea.” 

——

“Bee, where the fuck is Jane Smith?” Luke looked up as Bobby walked into the back, sat in front of the M-Z shelf. “I could’ve sworn it was on the back list, but I can’t see it.”

Bobby crouched down next to him, hand on Luke’s shoulder. “Babe… it’s right in front of you.”

Luke groaned. “I’m losing my mind, I swear.”

“Yup, you are. This is what you get for jamming out until three in the morning,” Bobby told him, kissing his hair. “Want a brew?” 

“I love you so much, you beautiful man.” Luke grabbed the bag and stood up, wincing when his knee made a popping sound. “I will take a coffee with three spoons of instant and three spoons of sugar, please.”

Bobby blinked, horror painted across his face. “I’m physically incapable of making that.” 

“Aw, Bee-baby, please?” Luke pushed the door to the main shop open. “Pretty please?” 

“Fine, but only because I love you, and because I’m more worried about how you’ll make it to five if I don’t give you it than what it’ll do to you.”

Luke shot him a lazy one handed finger gun. “Attaboy.” 

——

“Not gonna lie, I did  _ not  _ see this coming,” Reggie said, sprawled out on top of Luke. “Both of us in actual healthy relationships with people who like us? Wild.”

Luke exhaled sharply, too tired to bother with a full laugh. “You saying it’s surprising someone loves me? I’m pretty, man, that’s rude.” 

Reggie rolled his eyes. “No, I’m saying you’re an idiot who writes songs and pines instead of communicating, and I’m an idiot who’s been pining for two people for… four years? And now we’ve both done the whole communication jam. I’m proud of us.” 

“I’m proud of us, too,” Luke agreed, kissing Reggie’s cheek. “I definitely did better out of this, though.”

“You’re dating an actual bastard gremlin man,” Reggie reminded him. “And I’m dating Al and Wills. The prettiest guys we know.”

Luke grinned lazily. “He’s a bastard gremlin man and I love him so fucking much. I’ve written, like, four songs about him.” 

“You’ve written at least ten,” Reggie protested. “I’d put money on fifteen.”

“Yeah, but at least six of those were about the time we watched the sunrise on the pier at Saltburn, and another four were about the time he took me to Alnwick castle.” Luke shifted until he could grab his phone, showing Reggie the lock screen - a picture of Bobby sat on a bench, hair whipped up and cheeks flushed by the wind, the sea brushed with streaks of rose gold by the rising sun behind him. “How could I not write six songs about that?” 

Reggie made a considering face. “Yeah, okay. That’s valid. I think you should write a song about Carlos and Bobby together, because you get  _ the  _ biggest and most obvious heart eyes when you see them together.” 

“Yeah, well.” Luke shrugged his shoulders, unashamed. “Have you ever seen Jules when Flynn is with her little sister? Hell, you should look in a mirror when Wills hangs out with Bobman and Carlos. We’re all just simps, and honestly I’m okay with that. The first song I ever wrote about Boob was on the radio the other day, so I think we should all be grateful for my simping.” 

Reggie poked his shoulder, mock-annoyed. “Your argument for everything can’t be “oh well the song I wrote about that topped the charts”. The song you wrote about me being obvious and madly in love with Will and ‘Lex also topped the charts, so shut the fuck up.”

“Reg, I love you, man, but you’re just proving my point,” Luke pointed out, carding his fingers through Reggie’s hair.

“I  _ said  _ shut the fuck up. Be a good pillow and be quiet.” 

Luke mimed zipping his mouth shut, but broke it a second letter to laugh at Reggie’s expression. “What? You told me to shut up?”

Reggie huffed and shuffled down until his head was resting on Luke’s chest. “I  _ obviously  _ meant sing me to sleep, Jesus.” 

“Ah, of course, my bad,” Luke apologised fondly, humming the first few bars of the song he’d been writing on and off since the first time Reggie had called him  _ brother.  _

“Damn right… I love you.” Reggie opened one eye after a moment. “I love that.” 

Luke smiled down at him, not pausing as he continued into the first verse, just humming since it wasn’t ready for Reggie to hear the lyrics yet. He brushed his thumb over Reggie’s cheekbone, hoping the other boy would take it as the silent  _ i love you  _ it was. 

Reggie turned his head to kiss his chest lightly, and Luke knew he’d got it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are much appreciated if you enjoy, let me know wha you think!


End file.
